Destiny's Timing
by ChibiAngel386
Summary: 13 years after Sidious fled the capital, having failed to take over, Young Luke Skywalker anxiously waits to be chosen by a master. However, trouble begins to stir and rumors spread that the Sith are back and in greater numbers... Massively AU.
1. Chapter 1

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**One**

A certain street in Coruscant's shopping district was the 13-year-old Luke Skywalker's favourite place to slip away to. It was a busy place, which smelled of burnt sugar and plastic, lit with bright neon lights and filled with colorful stalls where merchants sold their products. His favorite one of these stalls was a sweet foods stall run by an aging Tydorian named Thal-Ek, who was always seen sleeping a battered round chair behind the stall whilst his young assistant, the near-human girl, Rhea, kept the customers coming.

Luke leaned against the stall, observing a jar full of Nubian Ferry Berries, the white fruit kept ripe and stable in a strange clear blue liquid. Rhea handed a customer a small bag of sweet Loral Nuts before preparing a pack to fill with cakes. She was young, older then Luke by only a few years, yet her hands were weathered and slightly aged from the constant work. She had beautiful long blond hair, pale skin, a delicate face and curious gray eyes. Luke had watched her work often since he had discovered Thal-Ek's store and had come to know her as mutual friend. Regular customers seemed to expect him to be hanging around, as Rhea had noted once, they often asked where he was during his absence.

"Luke" Rhea spoke with a thick, strange accent though her voice itself was thin and airy, "You shouldn't't be out so late; your parents will worry..."

"I'm sure they'll live if I'm gone for only a while..."

Rhea sighed as she finished neatly packaging the cakes and set them to one side, "Are you nervous about turning thirteen?"

"It's been two days...some of the other kids my age have already been picked by Masters at the temple. My sister Leia was hand selected by Master Windu; he's one the greatest Jedi to ever live. My father isn't allowed to pick me or my sister, but he's taken Carena Eris under his wing. She's one of the best. I'm also sure Master Drallig has been watching my friend Kei with great interest; he'll be next..." Luke explained. He was feeling terrible; it would be shameful if he was not picked and sent to the Corps, his father would never look at him in the same way.

Rhea leaned over to touch his cheek encouragingly, "Someone will pick you. You are the son of 'The Hero Without Fear,' it would be ridiculous for some of the Masters in your temple to not be curious about you..."

_They fear me_, Luke thought doubtfully, _my father's past behavior and scrape with the Dark Side has put them off me. They don't like the idea of going through what Obi-Wan had to..._

Rhea continued to smile at him gently before resuming her duty of selling sweet foods. She packed for Luke a cake and some Loral Nuts like she always did before he left at the end of his visits. He returned to his home via the lower-level monorail, using his Jedi boarding pass instead of money. The ride home took some time, calling a air-taxi would have been by far the easiest method of transport but he advised himself against it; they always charged too much.

He arrived at the bottom of his parent's apartment block, it was located in a very upper-class living section conveniently close to the Jedi Temple. He had to endure the slow lift ride up, preparing himself for a scolding from both his parents. As he entered the apartment he heard his mother's desperate voice.

"It was trouble enough to keep the Senate together after the exposure of Palpatine" Padme Amidala-Skywalker was saying, "Everything is still quite fragile. Now you're suggesting we make ammendments to the constitution?"

"Chancellor" said Senator Bana Breemu said, addressing Luke's mother re-approachfully, "These changes are for the best. To maintain peace within the Republic..."

"The last time such significant changes were made was under the influence of Palpatine" Padme pressed, "I do not wished to be viewed as a dictator. I would have left political service years ago if I was not selected as candidate for the election..."

"We understand your concerns Chancellor" Senator Giddean Danu spoke up, "We will have to reassure the people that you have no other motives then to improve the lives of all those part of the Republic. These changes could help with some of issues we're dealing with when talking to former Seperatist worlds..."

Just then Padme noticed Luke by the door, she straightened up and her motherly voice came into play; "Luke, come here sweetheart..."

Luke hesitated before making his way nimbly over to his mother, she took his hand tenderly and gave him a tired but loving look. "Where were you?" she asked gently.

"I went to see Rhea" Luke replied. His mother smiled at him warmly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "Best explain yourself to your father later. He was quite worried..."

"I will" Luke promised.

Padme then turned her attention to the group of senators, her closests and most trusted collegues and introduced her son. It was more like a re-introduction, many had already seen him as a baby and one of them Senator Bail Organa came to visit quite often. He was Leia's god-father.

"Luke" Senator Breemu's voice seem to float out, "It's been a long time. You were just a baby last time I saw you..." Then she turned her glance to Padme with a look of admiration in her eyes, "He has grown much like his father..."

"I too see alot of Anakin in you" Senator Organa said directly to Luke, "I see you are training to be Jedi, hopefully great like him one day?" Bail was regarding Luke's Jedi attire and signature padawan braid dangling down from his longish blond hair with much interest. Luke shifted uncomfortably, the thought of being sent to the Corps creeping up into his mind. His stomach sank as he struggled to remain calm. In his attempt his smiled awkwardly at Bail.

"I am trying my best with my training" Luke said. Bail smiled at this.

Padme had released her son's hand and was rubbing his upper arm absently, eyes fixed on Bail in a conversational manner. "He's thirteen now, he'll be picked by a master of individual training..."

"How exciting" Breemu's voice sounded rather patronizing, "You must be nervous..."

"A Jedi learns to control his emotions" Luke responded, almost automatically as if he was being questioned by Master Yoda on the life of a Jedi. Bail and two other senators, both quite aged, laughed at this. Luke felt the heat rise in his cheeks but did not respond to it, he calmed himself and let them have their laugh. Padme patted his arm soothingly, "Go see your father now Luke, he's on the terrace..."

Luke left hearing Senator Danu making a comment on how strictly the Jedi disciplined their pupils and how he wished his own children had the same amount of discipline. If only they knew how much a misbehaved, Luke thought resentfully, making his way down a dark empty corridor out onto the terrace. His father was sitting quietly in the middle of one of the sofas, with the fountain trickling quietly in front of him, his eyes were closed, the hood of his Jedi cloak was up and he was sitting crossed-legged in deep meditation.

Luke though for a moment about making his presence known, but advised himself against disturbing his father. He turned to leave when Anakin Skywalker spoke up; "Where are you going?"

"I don't want to disturb you..." Luke said quickly.

Anakin's eyes remained shut, "Stay. Sit" he said, "Your presence helps me; like your mother's; soothing. You and your sister are both quite similar to her..."

Luke moved quietly to sit on the sofa on the other side of the small fountain, directly opposite his father. Anakin remained silently for quite a few minutes later, meditating deeply, the Force surrounding his being; he became one with it and basked in it's brilliance and power. Then he opened his eyes and moved to unfold his legs and push down his hood.

"Where did you go?" Anakin asked, sorting out his cloak, not looking his son in the eye.

"Out" Luke said carefully, "I went to see Rhea..."

"You should have been studying at the Temple; that should be your only excuse for going out..." Anakin told him sharply, "I understand your desire for freedom but remember that a Jedi does not crave adventure and excitement..."

"Even though you craved these things in your youth?" Luke questioned, feeling rather rebellious and quite stupid at the same time. He expected his father to have a good yell at him then and there. Instead Anakin smiled at him, "Yes" he said, "It is a test we all face when we are young..."

"Did Obi-Wan face that test?" Luke wondered aloud, not really wanting to get an answer. His father responded all the same.

"I'm not sure" Anakin sighed, standing slowly, "You're going to have to ask him..."

Luke nodded absently before asking, "Where's Leia?"

"Staying late at the Temple" Anakin replied, "Master Windu wishes to teach her to supress the rebellious nature he disliked seeing in me when I was a padawan..."

The room was small, silent and simply. Leia sat on a round meditation pod, eyes closed, brown hair tied up neatly in braids, pinned delicately to her head. She let out a steady breath and concentrated.

"Concentration is key" Master Mace Windu circled the young girl, "Do not rush it, you have no need for speed in this...not yet...concentrate on one of the emotions which will lead to your desire to go against authority. Greed is the main one...learn to suppress it...let The Force guide you down the right path..."

Leia could feel a rush through her, the feeling of greed, which was strong within her; as it was in her father and brother, was fighting against her will. It battled for dominance over her actions, but she looked to the Force for strength and used what she found to suppress and fight off these feeling. _I must not be selfish_, she thought, _I must not want things for myself. I must think of others and do as the council instructs. I must know obedience..._

"Good" Master Windu sensed the slight change in his new padawan, "That will be enough for today..."

Leia opened her eyes and turned to face her master, "I felt it" she said, "I could feel the Force...it helped me..."

"The Force is there to guide as all young Skywalker," Mace said, "However it is up to us the except this guidance..."

"Yes Master" she gave a slight nod.

"You are dismissed for tonight" Mace said motioning towards the door.

Leia bowed to her Master and left. She took a long walk through the temple down to the hanger bay where she found Riyan Calhuu, a senior padawan of seventeen years, observing the mechanics working on a mass transport ship. "Riyan!" she called out to the older boy as she approached, "I need a favor..."

Riyan was tall, with brown hair cut short and a long padawan braid, he wore a light shade of clothes and was known for his curious fascination with mechanics. He wasn't the best mechanic to have ever lived, so instead he fueled his passion by spending spare time in the hanger bay. He also had an immense fascination with Leia's father, constantly amazed by his mechanical skill and knowledge of all things electronic. For this reason Leia could always look to him for favors.

"I need a ride back to my home" Leia said patiently, "I don't feel like waiting half and hour for the shuttle to return and it usually runs late anyway..."

"Oh" Riyan's eyes lit up at the idea of being able to once again be in the same room with the great Anakin Skywalker, who built a protocol droid and a pod racer when he was only nine. "Of course" he said quickly, "I'll be right with you..."

Leia grinned and watched him look for a free transport. They eventually were able to get a hold of a two seater air speeder, which was a murky red color, with the symbol of the Jedi order printed clearly onto it's side. Leia climbed in and sat down, Riyan seemed quite nervous, she couldn't't imagine him ever becoming a great Jedi warrior like her father. However Riyan was kind and quite attractive; he also made a brilliant friend, so Leia never pushed him away, no matter how much cowardice repulsed her.

The senators had left well past the time Luke and his family usually had dinner, so instead Padme and C-3PO went to the kitchen to prepare a small late meal. Luke sat with a holopad in the living room, with the HoloVision on the news channel, occasionally glancing up from his studies to see what was on. The female near-human news presenter with blue skin, dressed in all dark maroon, was reading out the latest report.

"A female twi'lek dancer named Bruna Koon, was found murdered in a dumpster near the club where she worked" the presenter drawled on in a dry voice, "Bruna was just 24 years of age and it seems not the typical target for murder...the Corsucant Republican Police force investigates this murder..."

The screen flipped over to a man in uniform, talking to another reporter from the scene. "There seems to be no reason why Bruna would be the target for murder; it's more likely the actions of a random, mentally disturbed serial killer. We've looked over the body briefly, forensics have identified a few notable things about her cause of death..."

The presenter came back into view, sitting comfortably in her news studio, looking unshaken by the news of murder. _Typical,_ Luke thought, _I bet they get reports like this all the time..._

"The friends and family of Bruna mourn her loss with great agony. The 24-year-old Twi'lek dancer was found with stab wounds, strangely cauterized, much like the result of being wounded by a lightsaber. The signature weapon of the Jedi Order. The police do not suspect the Jedi to be behind the murder of Bruna, they will be meeting with the High Council of the Jedi Order tomorrow morning to discuss the possibilities of their involvement. Bruna was also found to have a crushed windpipe, although there was no apparent bruising around her neck..."

Luke was transfixed by the news report feeling quite speechless. It was a while before the report changed to political news.

"The former seperatist system of Neimodia has joined the Republic in hopes of mending the damage past offenses have caused. Under the new leadership of Findos Cha'la, the Neimodians hope to be the role-model for systems which have over the years still rema--"

Luke turned off the HoloVision and put down his holopad. He had caught a familiar looking air speeder slowing to a stop through the window and moved quickly to the terrace. His twin sister Leia was climbing out of the speeder looking rather pleased with her self. Her Jedi attire was similar to Luke's, however it was more effeminate in many ways. Leia studied her twin's expression with a mix of interest and concern.

"What's up?" she asked rather casually.

"A twi'lek girl was found murdered in the downtown entertainment district this afternoon..."

Leia's expression softened, "How sad..." she said slowly, still at odds as to why her brother was so bothered by the news of the death of someone he'd never met.

"The Jedi are the main suspect" Luke told her painfully.

Riyan was still sitting in the air speeder not too far away, he glanced over at them in alarm. "What?" both he and Leia said in unison.

"I was watching the news, she had lightsabre wounds...and a crushed windpipe..."

"That's terrible" Leia looked quite horrified, "Surely it couldn't be anyone within the order..."

"It would be difficult for us to tell..."

Just then, Anakin strode past them looking quite flustered. He spotted Riyan and his twins and frowned in confusion, "What's going on here?" he asked, sounding strangely breathless; as if he has just run a great distance. Luke furrowed his brow slightly.

"Riyan was dropping off Leia"

Leia smiled at her father warmly. He had been so proud when she was selected by Master Windu, so the habit of being a 'daddy's girl' had grown fast on her. She enjoyed being the center of his attention, but at that exact moment she sensed that it wasn't the best moment for the sort of thing. Riyan was smiling nervously at Anakin, who observed the young boy carefully.

"Evenin' Master Skywalker" Riyan said, failing to try and sound casual.

"Good evening padawan..." Anakin searched for a name, but none seem to come to mind.

"Riyan Calhuu; we've met before...briefly...a few months ago..."

"Ah yes..." Anakin said nodding slowly. Luke very much doubted his father actually remembered who Riyan was, he strided smoothly over to the young man. "I assume you're heading back to the temple?" he asked.

"Yes master" Riyan replied, "Straight back...may I ask why?"

"I need a lift"

"You're leaving?" Padme's voice floated in softly from behind the group. They all turned to look at her, standing in the doorway as beautiful as ever. The terrace was darker then room behind her, giving her a bright outline, it almost made her look angelic. Anakin was quite transfixed for a while, before regaining his composure when he noticed his twins were looking at him oddly.

"The council requires my presence..." he informed his wife calmly.

"Oh..." Padme smiled briefly, "Of course your duty to them is important..."

Anakin nodded, he felt a pang of regret for having to leave her, it had been a while since he had laid with her, having returned just from a mission in time for the start of the padawan selection phase which usually lasted one week. He pushed the solemn thoughts aside and climbed in the speeder, "We'll talk later" he told Padme, before Riyan clicked the speeder in drive and pulled away. Luke watched them leave, feeling tired and confused all at the same time.

Padme swayed where she stood, quite lost in thought, then she turned her attention to her son. "Luke, sweetheart, have you finished that study on the Battle of Geonosis?"

"No mom; but I will...soon..."

"Best be before it gets too late. Your father won't be pleased to see you two still up when he gets back" Padme had moved elegantly down to where they stood and had briefly touched Leia's cheek, gently and affectionately. Leia smiled at her mother, _she's so beautiful_, she thought, _I wish I was that pretty..._

"I have something for you two to eat if you're hungry" Padme said, observing her skinny daughter.

"I'm not hungry right now mom," Luke said, "I'll eat after I finish studying..." In truth he had no interest in studying. He was too interested in the murder of the twi'lek dancer. Was it possible that someone within the order had for some reason been driven to kill her? His mind swam with questions as he retreated back inside, to sit back down on the sofa, and let out a shaky breath.

tbc.

A/N:

1) Thal-Ek, Rhea, Kei, Carena Eris, Riyan Calhuu and Findos Cha'la are all fan-made characters belonging to me.

2) Padawans do get selected by masters/knights at the age of thirteen, however I'm unsure whether this happens during a certain space of time on just on the day they turn thirteen. In here it happens within one week, just because it's easier on me plotwise.

3) The backstory will explain itself further throughout the course of the story, you'll just have to learn to be patient.

4) Reviews are love! 3 Thankyou for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

"Coruscant's police force will be suspicious of every single Jedi until the real killer is brought to justice" Master Mace Windu was saying, leaning back into his chair, arms resting comfortably on the armrests. The council stirred momentarily.

"Disturbing these events are, handle this situation carefully, we will..." Master Yoda was nodding thoughtfully, small clawed hands resting in his lap. Anakin had been very silent since his arrival within the temple and now that the council was in session he continued to remain silent. Unless he was directly addressed he kept his eyes pinned to floor, listening with great awareness to the conversation taking place, but still holding the outward appearance of a day dreaming boy. He had a reason for not wanting to look his fellow Jedi in the eye.

It had been a year and a half since the council itself had a agreed to elect him as a member and yet after his forced election through Palpatine and his brush with the darkside, there were still many on the council and within the rest of the Order who did not trust him. He could feel it now, as he sat and listened to the debate take place between Yoda, Mace, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi; his former teacher and Master Ki-Adi-Mundi. It was no mystery to Anakin that two or three, if not more of the Jedi on the council suspected him as the Twi'lek girl's murderer.

He had not done it. He had dedicated himself to the light; he had touched the dark side and as a result almost lost everything he knew. He would never go down the path again, it would cause hurt to everyone close to him. He thought of his children and felt a great surge of pain; knowing that if they ever found out about the events of his past, they would never see him in the same light as they did now.

"So it's concluded," Obi-Wan's voice brought Anakin out of his thoughts and back into the round council chamber, "We will explain the situation to the Corucanti Police Force, acting carefully not to raise more suspicion..."

"They may want to search the Temple; Captain Ryake who has taken over the investigation has a reputation of thoroughly searching the homes of people he holds as suspects..." Mace reminded Obi-Wan, who opened his mouth to say something before Anakin cut in.

"That's unthinkable," Anakin said, feeling all eyes fixed on him. _Great_, he thought, _I've given them a reason to stare at me_... However, as uneasy as he felt, he continued; "Civilians and all other non-Jedi aren't allowed within the grounds on the Temple, they know that. They wouldn't dare even suggest a search..."

"Be mindful of your words Master Skywalker," Yoda said, motioning towards Anakin with one small hand, "Assume what they will and will not do we must not; lead to possible conflict this could..."

The council stirred around him. Anakin simply nodded in agreement and became immensely intrigued by the floor again. It felt like he was being lectured, just as he had when he was a padawan and the feeling of mistrust grew stronger. However he remained silent, mindfully using the Force to make sure the other Jedi couldn't read him, creating pyschic barrier between them and him. It seemed to go unnoticed and for this Anakin was quite thankful.

"Yoda and myself, along with Obi-Wan, Ki-Adi and Kit will go to meet with Captain Ryake and his squad apon their arrival tommorrow morning," Mace said loudly, "After the meeting, council will be in session so we may discuss further action..."

There were nods and murmers of agreement among the Council members. Anakin could help but feel as if they were all merely thankful that he was not chosen to accompany the greeting party tommorrow, probably fearful that he might try to manipulate the situation. He let out a soft sighed and looked down at his hands.

"Skywalker" Mace said sharply, causing Anakin's head to bolt up in alarm for the second time, "You have yet to give us your report from Dantooine..."

Anakin reminded himself of the mission he had just returned from and quickly gave the said report; "Yes" he cleared his throat, "Master Drallig and Master Keto have both done a good job of overseeing the reconstruction of the Jedi Enclave located on Dantooine. By the planet's next summer it will be finished and after they overseen the safety check proceedures they would like to start taking students and masters alike. Master Drallig asked me to inquire as to how candiates for the Enclave are to be selected when the construction is finished..."

"More senior padawans and their masters seem to be a more situable choice" Obi-Wan noted helpfully.

Yoda scratched behidn one of his large green ears absently for a moment, "Contact Master Drallig on this matter I will. Not our main concern it is, solving the mystery of this murder is this council's priority..."

Mace was nodding in agreement, "Thankyou for the report Skywalker," then he addressed all the other Jedi, "These matters have been settled, is there anything else that should be mentioned?" A silence followed.

"Very well" Mace said with a nod, "council adjourned..."

Anakin made his way down to the study hall with Obi-Wan and remained silent for most of the way. He had thought of bringing something else to the attention of his fellow council members, yet it seemed a futile and petty thing compared the issue of the murdered Twi'lek girl. Finally as they approached the large doors of study hall, ascending the short set of stairs, he decided to bring up the subject.

"Luke is among the unchosen padawan" he said glancing sideways at Obi-Wan, "Does no one think he would make a good Jedi?"

Obi-Wan sighed, telling Anakin that his former master knew that this conversation would happen. "To be honest Anakin...Yoda, Mace and myself have discouraged many to taking Luke as their padawan..."

Anakin stopped short on the final step upon hearing this; "What?" he asked, sounding angrier then he really meant to. Obi-Wan turned to face him, with the expression of a battle ready man radiating off his stance and facial features.

"Before you explode on me and bring the roof down, let me explain to you why this was done..." he said. Anakin waited impatiently for Obi-Wan to continue. "Luke is like you in many ways, in sense of potential and character. It was decided quite some time before he turned thirteen that Luke would have a master selected for him. you may not want to hear this now, but training you was not the easiest or the most pleasant experience. There were so many times we could have lost you to the dark side and we want to avoid such things with Luke's training..."

Anakin frowned, "Luke is not me; he won't make the same mistakes. He's been with the Jedi since he was a baby..."

"But he has a privilege no other padawan but his sister is allowed; he has a home outside of the temple and a family to be with. The council has less power what influences him then you think."

"If this is true," Anakin challenged, "Then why was Leia chosen by Mace when the twins turned thirteen?"

"She has more of her mother in her; more stability although still headstrong...Mace has watched her for a while and has been considering the desicion to take her as his padawan for some time now" Obi-Wan explained, he turned to enter the study hall, filled with senior padawans and newly knighted Jedi alike. Anakin followed him, pursuing the conversation with great persistance.

"So you're saying this is my fault? The council really hasn't learned to trust me..." anger rose into Anakin's voice, he felt as if he had lost all the serenity meditation had brought to him earlier.

"You can't blame them Anakin," Obi-Wan retaliated, "Your brush with the darkside almost destroyed the Jedi Order; the fact that you turned on Sidious and assisted Master Yoda; undoubtedly saving the life of our Grandmaster is the only reason you were rewarded with your family and allowed to stay within the service of the Order..."

Anakin drew in a breath sharply and brushed past Obi-Wan, "I was under the impression they thought my children would be of more use then I was...or that the Prophecy somehow convinced them to let me stay..."

"It's complicated Anakin, now try to calm down..."

Anakin was about to open his mouth and continue to argue when there was a tug on his sleeve. A girl, about Leia's height and age, with light brown tanned skin and dark brown hair, styled in tight curls was standing by his side. She held in her arms a mass about of datapads and archive holobook. "Hello Master Skywalker, Master Kenobi" the girl bowed politely.

"Carena" Obi-Wan's eyebrows rose in surprise, "You're still awake? It's quite late..."

"I wanted to get ahead in my studies. To prepare myself for my the beginning of my training with my new master" Carena replied in a young yet oddly intelligent voice. Her language was formal and her small petit body was poised delicately. Obi-Wan had seen her under Master Yoda's instruction as a youngling once or twice, she was said to have no love for the lightsaber but had an immense fascination with the study of the Force. This was Carena Eris, a child with wisdom beyond her years, who reminded Obi-Wan oddly of Fay; the ageless Jedi Master who sacrificed herself for the good of the galaxy. She too never weilded a lightsaber but trusted in the Force instead.

Anakin studied Carena carefully, as if he had not taken a proper look at her when he selected her as his padawan. _Training her will be easy_, Obi-Wan thought, _that's probably why he picked her_. However Obi-Wan couldn't see how a girl who seemed destined to spend her years buried in the Jedi Archives could possibly co-exsist with a man who was infamous for his thrill-seeking, battle-ready and fun-loving nature.

"That's good to hear Carena" Anakin offered his new padawan an awkward smile. Carena simply blinked up at him.

"I hope I'll get to see Luke and Leia soon" she said with a tinge of hope in her voice, "We were in the same clan as younglings, but I haven't seen them since..."

"I'm sure you will" Obi-Wan said swiftly, "but for now I think you best finish your studies and head off to your dormitory..."

Carena nodded and bowed to them again, "Yes master" she said in her tiny, mousey voice. Then she left the study hall in a scurry, leaving the two Jedi Masters standing in silence.

"Strange girl..." Anakin sighed.

"Why did you pick her?"

"I was in a hurry."

Obi-Wan scowled; not frowned, not grimaced - he scowled. Anakin was quite taken aback by this expression. "What?" he asked innocently. His former master sighed and turned to move beyond the study hall into a holographic display room, with holograms of Jedi masters reciting the Jedi Code on constant replay.

"I do hope that's not your only reason for picking her" he said as he left. Anakin frowned and followed him.

Back in his room, lit only by the light of the buildings and speeders of Coruscant outside, Luke lay awake staring up at his ceiling. His mind was once again labouring over the thought of being sent the Corps. Was he to be a complete disgrace to his family? Why hadn't he been chosen? His sister along with all of his friends had been selected by Masters...what about him? He lay awake for what seemed like hours struggling with these thoughts, until he heard the distant voice of his parents. It seemed his father had returned...possibly with news on the murdered Twi'lek girl. Luke slipped from his bed and out into the hallway, his feet were quite warm from being under the bed covers so it was odd walking along the cool hallway floor. He found curtain, strung up near a wall close to the doorway he had just come through, which led out onto the veranda, he hid behind the curtain and crouched low.

His parents were seated together, his mother's hands clasped around his father's gloved, prosthetic arm. "What's bothering you?" she asked, gazing into his father's eyes worriedly.

"I can't shake the feeling the Council still does not trust me..." his father said, "Infact I might be sure of it now..."

"What do you mean?"

"Obi-Wan, Master Yoda and Master Windu have all asked other Jedi masters not to take Luke as a padawan..."

Luke's heart skipped a beat; there was reason? He listened on, careful to cloak his presence so that he would not be discovered. His mother looked horror striken; "They don't want him to become a Jedi because of what you did?"

_What did he do? _Luke felt like asking, but again remained silent.

"They want to handle his training carefully; I suppose they think a highly skilled master should be the one to do it..." Anakin said, sounding both annoyed and sad at the same time.

His mother sighed, "They're only doing what they think is right..." she said re-approachfully, "You can't get angry with them because of that..." Luke was sure his father was about to explode and start yelling manically, instead his looked down and closed his eyes. Luke recognised this as his father concentrating and asking the Force for patience and serenity. After a moment he looked up into his wife's eyes and smiled at her.

"Go to bed" he said quietly, "I'll be there in a minute..."

After a moment's hesitation Luke's mother rose from where she sat and started to walk towards the hallway he had just come down. He moved quickly into the shadows so he could not be seen and watched her as she wearily made her way to her bedroom. Luke waited for a while before slowly stepping backwards, hoping to sneak off back to bed unnoticed.

"I know you're there" his father said without looking up, stopping the young boy in his tracks, "Come here so I can see you..."

Luke moved out of the shadows sheepishly and appeared before his father. The Jedi Master looked tired, worn and stressed; it made Luke wonder even more what had taken place with the council. Anakin motioned for Luke to seat near him so he did, eyes fixed on his father.

"I suppose you'd like an explaination for what was said about you?" Anakin still didn't make eye contanct with his son. He was gazing out into the bright city lights, watching the speeders zoom merrily through the sky. Luke was quiet for a while; it was true that he wanted to know more about what had been said about him but he felt as if it would bring his father nothing but more stress.

"I'll find out on my own" Luke said bravely, shunning his curiosity.

Anakin smiled and turned to finally look his son in the eye. "The Jedi would not pass up a chance to train you" he said, "You are lucky. Your destiny is not as fixed as mine. There are things you can avoid and escape doing..." he turned to look at fountain distantly, a serious look on his face which almost seemed sad.

"My future was written out before me and I may suffer because of it...I have no choice but to embrace the whatever turmoil brings me to my destiny..."

"Dad?" Luke was confused and even more so when his father did not respond. Fixed destiny? Why was his father's destiny fixed? Instead of getting an answer he was sent to bed, leaving his father to brood in the dark silence of late night. Now even more questioned riddled his mind, so many issues which had come into play; the reason he was not yet picked by a master, the murder of the twi'lek girl and now his father's 'fixed destiny' ...

tbc.

A/N:

1) Serra Keto and Cin Drallig are both not mine, characters belonging to Lucas.

2) Captain Rylake belongs to me.

3) Reviews are love.


	3. Chapter 3

Three

_The Battle of Geonosis_ was one of the more exciting skirmishes of the early Clone Wars, in fact it was the first battle that took place between the Seperatist forces and the newly formed Army of the Republic. The clones, marching by the thousands in their shiney white battle armour, had been a sight one would ever forget. However, when Palpatine had been revealed as the master mind behind the three year war, the people of the Republic had been so repulsed by the mere sight of a clone, the only merciful thing the Senate could do was order their return and 'decomission' from the Kaminoans.

The plan for the Republic's conversion to an empire and the revenge of the Sith was a plot unflawed until the very ending. Sidious had been so confident that the Jedi could never place full confidence and trust in Anakin, he was sure that only for the Jedi Anakin's actions were unpredictable. However, as it had turned out, Anakin was unpredictable to everyone. He had been that way since he was little.

Padme smiled awkwardly to herself at the thought of it; she remembered thinking that Qui-Gon Jinn's faith had been irrationally misplaced in the small boy. She thought the fight for her planet would be over and she would be stranded for years on the strange desert planet that was Tatooine. Then Anakin prooved her wrong; he had won the Boonta Eve pod race and had it not been for him they would have ended up stranded for a very long time. She felt as if she could never escape being in his debt; she longed to ensure his happiness right until the moment they both passed on. However ensuring Anakin's happiness was not a task easily tackled. During her lunch break at the Senate Offices, she talked to her sister over a transmission about this.

Sola was growing quite old, thin grey hairs finally staring to appear and fine creases lining her beautiful face. Padme had hoped to grow old just as gracefully and it seemed her wish was granted. It was true that she was not as quick or active as she had been thirteen years ago but through the great care of her hand-maidens she was able to retain a rather youthful outward appearance. This did not mean she had no air of maturity to her, she would have hated to be viewed by older politicians as still a child when that very year saw her turn fourty. She would not go into why Anakin never seemed to change, to her the Jedi always seemed so immortal, including Yoda who was somewhere in his late 800s, Mace Windu frighteningly had not changed at all and the signs of age had only just begun to show on Obi-Wan.

Her sister laughed heartily when she brought this up, "Every woman out there fears growing old," Sola said, her voice kind and happy, "Yet it seems that the Jedi's women have it better then any of us..."

Padme laughed as well; this was true and from time to time it seemed quite unfair. Obi-Wan had told her the story of one very old near-human Jedi master, a woman whose name she could not recall, who had such a strong connection to the Force she was able to appear forever in her twenties. She wondered if this was Anakin's case; if she would slowly age more and more each day and he would remain young. Would aging even concern him? He was a Jedi and ever since the events of thirteen years old seemed more and more set on living up to the Code. It was his act of attonement.

She sighed wearily. Sola's brow creased with concern, "Padme? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine" Padme managed sorting through a few holo files on her desk, "It's just Anakin...I don't think he'll ever let himself live down his mistakes..."

"You shouldn't let that get to you Padme," Sola told her firmly, "You are blaming yourself for his current state of self-hating. All you can do is try to help him..."

"It wasn't so bad," Padme reminded her, "It used to be just sometimes but now it's worse. I don't want this to affect the children's lives and I don't want him to blame himself. He was in a great sense, a victim of the plot 13-years ago...but he still blames himself for everything..."

Sola sighed and regarded her sister with a sad look on her face, "I wish I knew how to help you Padme but in truth I have no idea what to say...after all your family is one of the only exceptions ever made by the Jedi Order, is it not?"

"It is" Padme said nodding. She took this greatly into consideration, suddenly feeling quite lonely. She then checked the time; she would be meeting with a liberation committee from Malastare in a few moments. She apologised briefly to her sister and ended the transmission, rising from her seat as a large, well-dressed group was led into her office.

At the Jedi Temple, Leia sat waiting patiently on the steps leading up the Jedi Archives, it was only eight or ten steps, which made them an ideal resting area. Her master was in an important meeting and had asked her to study the way the Hyperspace Wars and the views of the Force during this era, he had been careful to remind her not to engage too deeply into the views of the Sith. However Leia did not like to sit around and study, she often grew restless and bored, especially if she were to study on her own.

Just then she noticed a familiar looking female human padawan, with a small frame and curious brown eyes. She recognised this girl as Carena Eris, who had been in her youngling clan during the very first stage of their training. Carena was carrying with her a loads of HoloBooks and was headed straight for the stairs where Leia was seated. She was a strange, awkward girl but Leia knew she was smart and mild mannered. This would proove to her very useful.

"Carena!" she called out, careful to not to shout too loudly. The serenity of the Temple was held quite sacred.

Carena recognised her immeadately and approached her silently, "Leia Skywalker" the corner of the other girl's mouth curved into a half-smile, "Can I help you with something?"

"Do you know anything about The Hyperspace Wars?"

"Oh yes!" Carena said her eyes brightening considerably, looking a great deal more lively then she had a few moments ago, "Why? Have you been asked to study it?"

"I have" Leia replied.

"Well...There are two wars; the Great Hyperspace War and the Stark Hyperspace War, start with the former. I recommend checking out 'An Analysis of the Great Schism,' It's a book written by the Jedi Historians of that era and probably the best to start with. I'm sure you'll find it quite a prepossessing text, I myself thought it very charismatic, particularly when compared to the other more insensate and languid records of the early Jedi Civil Wars..."

Leia stared at Carena as if she had just been hit by a hoard of stampeding Banthas. Carena really was weird, it definately was odd for a girl of thirteen to be using such intracate speech. However, now that Leia really thought about it, previous to that moment she had never really heard Carena speak at all. She was always so quiet and now she had managed to put Leia off studying the Hyperspace Wars simply by opening her mouth, it all seemed far too complicated...

"Perhaps you could help me? It sounds kinda confusing..." Leia said, smiling awkwardly as she stood up.

Carena looked downcast, "Oh, I'm so sorry Leia, I can't stay. I'm just here to return these documents. I need to go and meet my master. He wants to begin working on my lightsaber form..." At the mention of this Carena looked even more upset. Leia couldn't possibly imagine how some practical study and training could be worse then the written work she had been assigned to tackle. This negative reaction piqued Leia's interest as to who Carena had been selected by.

"Who's your master?" she asked carefully.

Carena's expressioned lightened a little, "Your father," she said, excitement slipping into her voice, "Isn't that exciting? We'll practically be sisters!"

"Ohh..." was all Leia could manage as she watched Carena begin to bounce happily infront of her. She wasn't sure if her 'ohh...' was an 'ohh...' of happiness or and 'ohh...' of complete and utter anguish. Carena then checked the time and said a rushed farewell before speeding off to return the HoloBooks she was holding. Leia could only stare after her, completely dumb-struck.

It was at that exact moment that Carena and Leia had become aquainted that the Jedi Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi Mundi and Kit Fisto greeted Captain Ryake and his team in the Public Center of the Jedi Temple.

Kit and Mace both were scarred from their past duel with Sidious and their brush with death. Whilst Kit's lightsaber wounds left great scars across his chest and adomin, they were concealed by his robes. Mace's wounds were more visible, in replacement of where his little finger and ring finger would be on his right hand he had prosthetic fingers of a shiney metallic appearance. He also had faint burns scars on his neck, leading down one side of his body where he had been hit by a powerful jolt of Force Lighting which nearly killed him. These scars made him look alot more frightening to the average civilian. However, as Captain Ryake set his gaze on Mace, he looked completely unshaken.

"Honorable Masters of the High Jedi Council" he greeted them formly with a small bow, although the tone of his voice lacked any honest courtesy. He was a short man, dark haired and grim-faced.

"I am Captain Ryake of the Coruscanti Republican Police Force. I am leading the investigation on the murder of the young Twi'lek girl named Bruna Koon. Forensics have been able to identify the most likely killer to be a Jedi or a Force Sensitive of similar talents. As you can probably guess this has not narrowed the search down by much. But a lead is a lead..."

"Tragic the loss of this young girl is," Yoda said nodding, "Work with you to the best of our ability the Jedi will..."

"Are you aware, Captain, that the council cannot directly oversee what takes place within our part of this investigation? We do have to look at all the other issues which effect our Order as well. But we will ensure that our Jedi specializing in this feild will be available..." Mace looked very serious as he stared down at the short man.

"As long as you are not completely disregarding our investigation, I can understand and respect that you have limits..." Captain Ryake smiled icily, "We will ask for one specific thing though; we require a written report containing detailed alabis of every single member of the Jedi Order..."

There was an uncomfortable stir in the room, Yoda furrowed his brow, creasing his aged green features. "Consider us suspects, do you, captain?"

"I can not allow myself to be so narrow minded as to rule any of you out as potential criminals in this case," the captain explained smoothly, "I run all of my investigations like this; thorough and with out mercy. If you are all innocent you have nothing to hide and these alabis will simply solidifiy your innocence. However, if we pick up on something suspcious then we will look in to it..."

"To interrogate a Jedi, you plan, hm?" Yoda tapped his gimer stick on the floor lightly.

"If it comes down to it. If they hold any information I will find it...without your consent if I must, Master Yoda..."

"Every single Jedi is under the protection of the Jedi Council," Mace cut in firmly, "We would consider it a direct insult and a criminal offense to interrogate, question or personally investigate the private lives of any Jedi within the Jedi Order. I recommend you do not act without our consent..."

There seemed to be a staring match between Ryake and Mace for a moment. Obi-Wan cleared his throat loudly, drawing all attention to himself. "I'm sure if anything comes up we would look into it first," Obi-Wan said, "And you must take note that if the true killer does turn out to be a Jedi, whilst you may obtain information our Jedi may uncover you may not seek to take them to court..."

"Discipline our own we will, respected this way of life the Republic always has..." Yoda was nodding his gaze shifting instantaneously from Obi-Wan to Ryake. The captain stood processing this information seemingly quite down-trodden. Then he offered the Jedi another cold, emotionless smile. "I understand completely. Now, shall we discuss what should be done if enemies such as the Sith are to be involved...?"

Luke frowned at the news report infront of him. Nothing new had happened in the case of the murdered twi'lek girl, instead they were simply re-running old information alongside other news which were of no interest to him. However, there was one unrelated report which had caught his attention and had caused a scowl to be brough to his face.

The same blue, near-human female from last night had replaced the other reporter who had accompanied him in his HoloVision viewing all morning. She was wearing similar clothes, all of a dark plum colour and her dry, emotionless voice read out the report which had caught his attention. "The annual banaquet marking in celebration the end of the Clone Wars shall be taking place at the end of this week. To attend are the leaders and representitives of all loyalist planetary systems including icons such as Senator Bail Organa and Senator Mon Mothma. The Supreme Chancellor herself shall also be attending this, although no information has been released onto whether or not her family will be there."

On the screen beside the news-reader was a paparazzi-taken shot of Luke's mother exiting the Senate Offices. Soon beside that picture appeared another, this one of his father standing on the steps of the Jedi Temple with Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Aayla Secura. "Padme Amidala-Skywalker is the wife to Clone Wars hero and legendary Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. They have two children, the twins Luke and Leia Skywalker who were both born the same exact day the Clone Wars was brought to an end. They celebrate their birthday on this day and it was for this reason that the annual banaquet wa--"

At this point Luke had heard enough. It was clear there would not be much news on the case of the murdered twi'lek and he had no interest in listening to the media's opinion of his family. Luke had often heard how the press had had a feild day when the unity of his mother and father had been publically announced. It seemed they had grown bored of singers, actors and other celebrities and instead decided to pick on his family. However, they had calmed over the years, his parents, his mother in particular, had put in a tremendous amount of effort to make sure Luke and Leia were as sheltered as possible from media attention.

Luke rose from the sofa, picking up his holopad at the same time. He had not done any of his assignment, which had been his excuse for staying home when he should have been at the Temple. In truth he did not want to go because he was afraid that as soon as he got there, he would be told he was not to go on and recieve individual training. The thought of being a complete failure, when everyone else in his family seemed to do nothing but suceed, made Luke sick to the stomach. It was then the holoprojecter for the apartment began to beep loudly, demanding that it should be answered.

"I've called Luke to the Temple" Obi-Wan said, loud enough for Anakin to hear over the distant crashing of lightsaber blades. His former padawan's eyes were fixed on the sparring match infront of him but there was no doubting Anakin had heard every word. Obi-Wan joined Anakin, staring into the sparring arena was apparent keen interest.

"She's improving her reaction timing" Anakin said.

Obi-Wan smiled, "Under your guidance she should be able to master at least one lightsaber form" he said.

Anakin titled his head to regard Obi-Wan momentarily, "It'll take some work. Her skill is in the knowledge and understand of the Force but not in art of moudling it's power in practice..."

"With time she will learn" Obi-Wan assured Anakin. In the arena Carena and another young padawan of her age, the near-human male Breagg Varik, were sparring. Carena managed to hold her ground for quite a while before she was dealing a mock killing blow from her friend. The chief lightsaber instructer at the side called the match end.

Anakin nodded to his padawan to acknowledge the fact that she had not disappointed him. Then focused his attention of Obi-Wan.

"You're making a fine Jedi Master" Obi-Wan praised Anakin, patting him on the shoulder, "Perhaps a greater Jedi then myself..."

"I do not think that is possible..."

"Anything is possible" Obi-Wan smiled.

"I do not possess your wisdom or your patience," Anakin said looking down briefly, "As much as I long for them..."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Anakin" Obi-Wan then sighed, "Self-discipline may be key to the Jedi way of life but last time I checked self-hating was not..."

Anakin nodded absently. He did not feel like going through another round of being convinced that he was not a bad person. Instead he nimbly changed the subject. "The desicion has been made about Luke then?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, "It was decided shortly after our meeting with Ryake and his squad. Luke shall become a Jedi..."

"I hope he is more enthusiastic then Leia about the training..."

"Is she unhappy?"

"She arrived here in a bad mood this morning, which was worsened by the news of her written assignment. I know it was given to pass the time whilst Master Windu was in the meeting and I tried to explain that to her. All that happened was that she stormed off to go to do it..."

"She has quite a bit of you in her..."

"I think it's Luke's influence. Leia always possessed more of her mother's traits...I know the Council realised that early on..."

"We did," Obi-Wan agreed, "She wasn't such a headstrong youngling compared to her brother...however now it seems that it's rubbing off on her...they're switching roles"

"That's not what I meant by influence..."

"No?"

"I've speculated it to be more of a psychic bond..."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows rose with interest. "Pyschic bond?"

"Yes," Anakin cleared his throat, "I noticed it early on but decided not to comment on it. It's the sort of thing that wouldn't be obvious unless you were spending a lot of time with them. If Luke fell ill, Leia would become so too, despite the fact that she could be on Naboo and he on Coruscant. If Leia got hurt and upset, Luke would become that same way, despite being in a good mood previously. I couldn't continue to peg it for coincidence so I realised it as some kind of connection between siblings..."

Obi-Wan gave this a fair amount of thought. "It doesn't surpise me," he said, "After all they are twins who possess almost the same amount of potential you had as a child...I shouldn't worry about it, it'll do more good then harm..."

Anakin smiled, "Who said I was worried?"

"Were you?"

"Maybe a little..."

Captain Ryake entered his home quite late at night. He removed his gloves and seated himself in his favourite chair, massaging the thick scars present on the back of his hands. A figure shifted in the shadows of his dimly lit home and then slowly emerged, heavy boots falling quitely onto the clean floor. Ryake did not turn to acknowledge the figure's presence but instead watched its shadow on the floor slowly shrink as it grew nearer.

"Oldus," a deep voice broke the silence, "Everything is set in place. You will have the evidence needed very soon. Do not act if Skywalker does not leave for Dantooine. He is needed there when the plan goes into action...my master wishes it..."

Ryake nodded slowly, studying the tip of his boot with great interest. "Does your master require anything else Darth?"

"Not yet, you will wait for me to contact you again..."

"Very well..."

A/N:

1) Before you start screaming "Mary-Sue!" let me tell you that the woman who I've mentioned before, the one who retained a youthful appearance through her strong connection to the Force, is a canon character. She is not mine. Look her up if you're not convinced. Her name was Fay and she was a near-human Jedi Master who died during the Clone Wars.


	4. Chapter 4

**Four**

The intense Coruscanti sun shone brightly in the sky, which was dotted by many air speeders and other vessels going about their daily business. Thin clouds drifted lazily across the vast blue canvas, showing no sign of uniting in order to shield the residents of vast city-planet from the heat and the dry.

"I sometimes hate it when its all sunshine..." Luke squinted up into the sky as he waited for his master to climb out of the air taxi, "I hate heat..."

"That is because you have spent most of your life so far in air-conditioned buildings or in space, where it is very cold..." Obi-Wan had paid the taxi fare and was now reading a marble plaque not to far from them, "The Coruscanti Preservation Association," he read aloud, "Well the journey wasn't as tedious as I feared..."

"Remind me; what are doing here again?" Luke frowned at the vast amount of potted plants surrounding the plaque. He had no problems with decorative plants, but there were far to many, making it a ludicrously untidy display.

"Talking to the Ithorian in charge of this organization about the threats they have been receiving from the chairman of the Yomaros Company..." Obi-Wan smoothed out his cloak absently and began to walked towards the lobby entrance, motioning for Luke to follow him. Luke was quick to be at Obi-Wan' side, trying to dig deeper into the meaning of his first mission, he prayed it wasn't as boring as it sounded.

"Why are they being threatened?"

"Well, the Yomaros Company are in charge of building Residential blocks like the one you live in with your family, this association are trying to preserve what little natural beauty the planet has left, they do this by taking care of preservation zones around Coruscant. The Yomaros Company is currently threatening to take drastic measures if they do not give up one of their zones so that more residential blocks can be built..."

"And we are here to try and make those threats stop?"

"To find terms on which both parties will agree peacefully..." Obi-Wan smiled at the look of relief on Luke's face when they entered the lobby and were met by the chilling breeze of air-conditioning. "You know your father hates the cold...he spent the first nine years of his life on desert planet so naturally he likes the heat..."

"Interesting..." Luke mumbled absently looking around the lobby, he wasn't really interested but had decided earlier that week that at least acting interested would spare him a lecture or two. He was preoccupied in taking in his surroundings, the lobby of the building seemed to be built to impress. It was a shiny, sliver-plated room, with large round windows and a vast amount of potted planets. There was a fountain in the middle and just beyond that a reception desk, where a female Twi'lek, with deep beige colored skin, dressed in flowing pale blue robes sat patiently. Seeing her brought Luke's mind back to the case of Bruna Koon, the murdered dancer found with lightsaber wounds and a crushed windpipe. It had been an entire week and yet still nothing had been found, everyone within the Order tried not to speak of it, there had been no troubles concerning Dark Jedi or possible Sith for thirteen years and the idea that the peaceful life everyone had become so accustomed to might change was nerve wrecking.

Obi-Wan seemed to sense his unease and laid a reassuring hand on his padawan's shoulder, "Wait here. I'll go see if we're allowed up, they should be expecting us..."

"Yes Master..." Luke moved to sit in the waiting area next to grumpy looking Rodian, he grunted loudly when Luke sat down and continued to mumble to himself gruffly. Luke sat feeling uneasy, hoping his master would be done soon and that the mission would be over quickly. He knew that Jedi were not supposed to seek adventure or excitement, yet he couldn't see why some exceptions couldn't be made whilst he was still in his youth. If anything, being young would be his excuse for acting up a little, yet still people oppressed him. He couldn't really understand it.

At that moment the lobby doors opened and a tall young man dressed entirely in black glided in, his face was pale and seem worn, as if he had seen one too many skirmishes on distant war-ravaged planets. During his time visiting Rhea, Luke had seen many who had served during the Clone Wars, generals of many species, aging soldiers, all who talked about how their usefulness was pushed aside by the brilliance of the clone army. All of these veterans were all secretly glad that the clones were actually part of a treacherous plot to turn the Republic into an Empire and that they were no longer in use. This man who had just walked in looked like someone who had seen many battles yet he was neither aging nor seemed like his life had lost its purpose.

He stood looking around for awhile and then caught Luke's gaze, holding it with his own. Luke froze where he sat and quickly turned around in his chair to stare at the floor. He hadn't meant to stare and getting into an argument over something so trivial would do nothing to impress his new Master. It was only moments later that Luke felt himself being towered over, he slowly looked up to see the man standing quite close, looking down at him. The silence and the eerie stare made Luke fell even more uneasy, he felt strange, as if something was extremely out of place. Like something was growing – something dark..

"Is this seat taken?"

The padawan was a bit taken-aback, he had expected the man to demand why Luke had been staring at him not inquire as to whether a blatantly empty seat was being used.

"Erm...no, it's not..."

The man sat down, stretching his legs out, observing the painting on the wall with what seemed to be very little interest. Luke took this time to subtlety observe the man. He was even younger in appearance up close then from afar, his eyes were deep rich blue, a color rare by human standards which made the pale blue-grey eyes of Luke and his father look a bit boring. His skin was still very fair, his clothes were dark and flowing and his hair, was straight, black and very long, fashioned oddly in Luke's opinion. Some of it was down and hung loose with several long braids found amongst the stray locks, the rest was tied up in a long, low pony tail at the back of his head, wrapped in a dark blue cloth. Luke was quick to observe his foot when the man realized he was staring again, trying to appear as casual as possible was proving to be somewhat challenging for Luke.

"Curiosity is nothing to be ashamed of!" The man laughed as Luke subconsciously shied away, still avoiding eye contact with the stranger.

"I'm Nobou Navaro by the way. I can tell by your clothes that you're a Jedi...or a trainee Jedi...padawan learner or something right?"

"Erm, yeah..." Luke finally decided to make eye contact, smiling awkwardly at the man's conversational manner and highly contrasting appearance. He glanced over at the receptionist's desk, through the ever thickening lobby crowd Luke could tell his Master was having some trouble convincing the Twi'lek girl that they were excepted. Sensing that he would be in the waiting area for some time, Luke decided it would be best to be friendly as well.

"So...Nobou, was it you're doing here?" he asked conversationally.

"Ah. Yes, well. I'm actually delivering these letters" Nobou rummaged through his robes and produced a darkly colored file, "The Ithorians like to use traditional methods of communication. I know that pen to paper letters are usually laughed at for being so ancient but at least I get paid as their errand boy..."

"You work for the Ithorians?" Luke inquired smiling at the idea of hand written letters.

"The Preservation Association of Telos and the one here on Coruscant are closely linked to each other. I'm just here to deliver the news back and forth...everyone needs to make a living, eh?"

Luke chuckled and glanced around to see Obi-Wan waiting patiently for the Twi'lek receptionist to produce something from her desk. Looking at her brought back the memory of the murder, of the Jedi as suspects and for some reason the memory of his father's face that one night. He had mentioned something about destiny, he had looked and sounded very sad and distant. Luke was aware the Nobou was watching him and looked up to stare into oddly concerned eyes.

"Hey...look kid. I know it isn't really any of my business. But you look kinda upset, everything...okay...?"

Luke smiled dryly, "I wish it was..."

Nobou tried his best to lighten the suddenly very morbid mood by asking Luke to evaluate suggesting that he, perhaps, could be of assistance. Luke was hesitant about spilling out his troubles to a complete stranger, on the other hand, the situation could have its advantages. One reason why Luke was not very open about how he was feeling, was because when he confessed to being upset to anyone close to him, everyone became instantly concerned and would badger him day and night about it like he was some kind of emotionally loose cannon. However, Nobou was a stranger, who he would undoubtedly never see again, so it couldn't hurt to tell him anything.

"It's just..." Luke started, "Recently I keep getting this feeling that something bad is going to happen. That someone I care about is going to get hurt and things could get...bad..."

Nobou tried to smile helpfully, "Things always get bad before they get worse. The best you can do is try to stop these things from happening, especially if you see them coming..."

"Maybe. But...interference could make things worse..." Luke fiddled with the loose threads on his sleeve.

"Not if you have enough power..."came Nobou's response, after a prolonged silence. There was something in his voice, at the mention of power, it seemed to change. Luke raised his head to look at the stranger, only to see that once bright blue friendly eyes were staring out into space, thoughts placed somewhere else, and his eyes were filled with something else. Whatever it was, made a feeling of unease grow inside the young padawan.

"Power?" Luke asked in a low voice.

"Power," Nobou said nodding, still staring blankly, "It means you control the situation. The people you care about can never get taken from you again..." Suddenly Nobou rose, clutching the folder containing the Ithorian letters close to his side, "I think you'll find, kid, that the person you're worried about, understands this reason for craving power better then anyone else..."

Luke stared at him, confused and slightly disturbed by the sudden change. Nobou seemed to pick up on this, a soft smile brought to his face he slowly began to move away. "Don't worry kiddo, everything will work out in the end...you'll get your happy ending..."

"Um. Thanks...oh, by the way, my name is Luke..."

"Luke," Nobou smiled again, this time it was a full, bright smile, "I'll see you around Luke..."

As Nobou disappeared into the thickening lobby crowd, Obi-Wan approached him smiling with pleasantly with his ever present charm. "That took quite some time," the Jedi Master gave Luke a slightly apologetic look, "Didn't make you wait for too long I hope?"

"Its fine Master, are we going to see the president of this association now?"

"Ah yes, we are. Ithorians like to use equipment and technology less harmful to the environment however it also means that they are less efficient, it took some time for the receptionist to find a record of our scheduled appointment..."

"Oh..."

Luke and his master ventured to a large towering room, with several more bubble lifts then one would have thought a building of this size needed. The president of the association had his office on the top floor, it was a large bubble room, overlooking Coruscant and the large preservation zone behind the office complex. As they entered, an aged looking Ithorian was hovering over one of the many mini fountains that populated the room. He was dressed in long robes, which looked aged and battered, and moved in a way that suggested the outfit reflected the state of its wearer.

"Master Jedi, good to have you here..." The Ithorian addressed Obi-Wan in his native language instead of basic, with a rich, deep voice. From what little Luke knew about Ithorians, he could partially interpret the conversation between his master and the large alien. It also helped that Obi-Wan would reply in basic, helping Luke to translate the parts he did not understand.

The Ithorian president was named Kel Chada. It seemed that the Yamaros Company had been threatening the Preservation Association for some time, but recently the threats extended to the preservation centers they had on Dantooine. When the Ithorians confronted the Yamaros Company about these off world threats they denied them, saying they had no interest in other planets.

"And now they seek to blame for the chairman's right hand man's tragedy..." Kel Chada moved slowly to the window, "But we are peaceful, and therefore would have no reason to want to harm and innocent person..." From there the aged Ithorian seemed to drift off into thought.

Luke stepped a little closer to Obi-Wan, "Tragedy, master? What's he talking about..."

Obi-Wan motion for Luke to remain silent and moved closer to where Kel Chada stood, "Are you referring to the murder of the Twi'lek entertainer?"

Kel nodded his massive head, although to Luke it appeared to be simply bobbing up and down, "The chairman's right hand man is a Twi'lek mass media manager named Munda Koon..."

Kei Shenuri was Luke Skywalker's best friend. They had been part of the same Clan, the bear clan, as younglings, instructed by Master Yoda. Kei was a human, with fair skin, jet black hair, thin eyes and deep blue oceans for irises, he was also slightly smaller then Luke even though he was older by three months.

Everything Luke did, Kei did as well. The fascination started when they were children and Kei was amazed by the fact that Luke was part of a nearly all Jedi family; a very rare honor for any Jedi to have. As they grew older Kei became more accustomed to Luke and his family and but still remained close. They knew each other better then they knew themselves, and at times were arguably closer then Luke and his sister, although Leia shunned the possibility of this knowing that it was only with her that Luke shared a very unique bond.

This did not mean that Kei did not have a close bond with Luke, however, Leia knew that only she could hear Luke's thoughts and only Luke could hear hers, even through stiff mental barriers that kept all others out. Luke's mood and health effected her own, so it was difficult not to be understanding.

When he returned from his first mission, the first thing that swept over her was stress and anxiety, he went straight to Kei to confide in. This didn't bother Leia, she knew he could come to her eventually and probably listen to what she had to say with more enthusiasm with the knowledge of her twin-given empathy towards him.

Luke found Kei sitting on a bench in The Room of a Thousand Fountains, staring at a large flower plant towering over several little ones. He at next to his friend silently and regarded the flower with little interest.

"When the little ones become big ...they'll be moved away from here...separated from each other and placed into the care of individuals who will take care of them. Like us..." Kei said, looking at Luke with a soft smile on his face.

"We won't be always separated..." Luke protested, "You're still my best friend..."

Kei grinned more characteristically, "Yeah, that's true!"

Luke had to note how ludicrously like Nobou his friend looked in the soft cool light of The Room of a Thousand Fountains. He ignored the observation as Kei proceeded to prod him about the mission he went on.

"I found out more about that Twi'lek girl who was murdered..." Luke said in a low voice leaning close to Kei.

"Really?! What did you find out?!" Kei exclaimed a little too loudly. Elderly Jedi who were checking some potted planets glanced over to where the two boys were, frowning slightly. "Shh!" Luke hissed grabbing Kei's sleeve and tugging him down to his level, "Keep your voice down!"

"Sorry...so...what did you find out?"

Early the next morning Luke was shocked to find that the Council had not taken the link between Bruna Koon's death and the Yamaros Company's threats into better consideration. He leaned across the table to frantically grab his father's hand, in order to prevent him from leaving the breakfast table, almost knocking over his sister's bowl of Galatic Crunchies in the process.

"But can't you see there is an obvious link!"

Anakin sighed and pried his son's fingers off his gloved wrist slowly, "There is no motive Luke...peace-loving, nature-hugging Ithorians just don't hire assassins to kill the daughters of their enemies...they just don't, okay?"

"But--"

"Don't let this bother you Luke, it really doesn't have anything to do with you..."

"But th--"

"I'll see you two at the Temple later today okay" Anakin swung his cloak on and headed for the door to the dining room.

"Bye Dad!" Leia called after him, completely unmoved by the fact that she didn't get a reply. Instead she simply finished off her cereal quietly while Luke sat fuming in silence.

'_Why don't people listen to me?_' he thought wringing his hands in an attempt to stay calm.

"Because you approach them with all these far-fetched theories," Leia answered aloud rising from her seat to put her empty bowl in the sink. C-3PO entered to move past her and begin to wash the dishes happily. Leia sat down and eyed her brother's soggy cereal momentarily. "Honestly Luke," she said drawing her gaze away, "Murderous Ithorians?"

"I didn't specify that I thought the Ithorians were behind it. But from what I've found out about this Munda Koon guy, he wasn't very pleasant, some people have speculated he's worse then the Hutts. Leia, look at this from the point of view of someone who has been unjustly victimized by Munda so that he could profit from a situation...there's a motive right there..."

"Do you have any evidence?" Leia asked.

"No...I mean, there are so many people who hate him...any one of them could have done it..."

Korriban, a jagged waste land that strikes fear the heart of Jedi and politicians alike, the home to many Sith tombs and burial grounds. A magnet for dark energies and a place of refuge for all those who want to get lost and not be found. The only ones sane enough to stay on the planet would be the Sith themselves, all other inhabitants were merely those unfortunate to get stranded.

Far from any sort of settlements was the old Sith Academy, staring out of one of the higher level rooms onto the battered wasteland before him, stood Darth Sidious. Pipes and wires fixed to his body, the Sith Lord was kept alive by the support of a machine and by the strength of his anger. He lusted for revenge against the one who made him so. The make-shift commsystem in the room behind him began to beep insistently. He answered.

The small flickering holographic image of his cloaked apprentice appeared before him. "Report Lord Thalos..."

"Things have gone as planned my Master, Ryake is proving to be a excellent tool; the Jedi have been shaken, they will soon fix their attention onto Dantooine, Skywalker will soon crawl into place..."

"Good, good..." Sidious drawled maliciously; revenge was so close.

"I will report back when phase 3 of our plan is complete..." The image flickered and then disappeared. Sidious drew in a sharp breath and moved to sit down in a large, throne-like chair. The doors to the room opened and a woman stepped in, clad in a tight dark brown battle suit, mostly concealed by a large billowing cloak. A dark hood was pulled up over her head, concealing her long dark hair from view. She knelt before the aging Sith Lord.

"You called my Master?"

"Ready the Acolytes, they must be fully prepared for their mission to Dantooine..."

"It will be done milord..."

Reviews! 3

A/N: Sorry this took so long. By the way, this is set a week from the end of the last chapter in case no one noticed.

Characters belonging to me new the story are: Nobou Navaro, Kel Chada, Munda Koon, Kei Shineru, Darth Thalos


	5. Chapter 5

**Five**

An exercise which was usually quite fun for young padawan such as Luke, Leia, Kei, Carena and Carena's strange friend Breagg, was to observe senior padawan in the sparring room in order to pick up on useful facts and at the same time provide feedback for their older peers. The good thing about this form of training was that it was new and therefore not in favor with many of the Masters who were quite traditional when it came to Jedi teachings. It was safe to say that it was not seen as "serious training" and therefore any cunning young padawan could usually get away with making up colorful feedback and not actually paying attention. Time during the sparring match was usually spent in deep conversation in the secluded atmosphere of the observational areas, which were nothing more than small balconies consisting of six chairs and a screen which provided a better image of what was happening in the arena not far below.

It was here on a calm Coruscanti summer morning that Luke continued to stress his suspicions to his new group of friends. Carena had only just began to spend time with the Skywalker twins, she was there so that she could become closer to her master's children, her peers, and Breagg seemed to follow her where ever she went despite having a master and friends of his own. Leia did not usually spend much time with her brother or his best friend Kei whilst at the temple, but her only friend had left for the Corps recently and so she had needed someone to spend her time with whilst Master Windu was busy taking care of "official council business."

She sat idly in one of the front row chairs, the chairs being large plush things with huge arm rests, three in the front and three in the back, whilst her brother talked to the rest of the group. Her attention strayed occasionally from the conversation, to the sunny rays brightening the sparring arena through tall windows and sometimes to the screen where the sparring match could be clearly seen, but she would always eventually return, usually on an interesting part of the conversation.

"Hey did you hear that they're serving Ferry Berry Ice Blasts down in the cafeterias now?" Leia said as she turned back to the others. However no one seemed to hear her and therefore she concluded no one was interested in going to see if they would be allowed to take a short break for some Ferry Berry Ice Blasts.

"The Masters have obviously thoroughly looked over the possibility of the Ithorian involvement and ruled it out completely," Carena was saying, "They would not overlook something like this. It's not like them..."

"Sometimes I think you put too much faith in the council, Carena," Luke responded, "They're not all powerful you know...they make mistakes..."

"And who would know better than us," Leia added, her tone slightly melancholy, "Our father is on the council...he made one of the worst mistakes ever..."

"But reconciled for it," Luke was quick to say, giving his twin a slight glare, "He's past that now: we all are."

"I don't like this..." Carena said anxiously, "We shouldn't be sitting here discussing these issues like they have anything to do with us. The council will sort this out, it isn't our place to question their actions nor is it right of us to start anything on our own. If this problem has not been assigned to us through our masters then we-"

"You just don't get it do you?" Kei cut her off, "Captain Ryake and his team of _rankweed suckers_ think the Jedi are guilty for that twi'lek girl's murder..."

"Better one of us than the Sith returning," Luke said, "The last time those guys decided to make a big return our father was turned to the dark side of the Force."

"What? You're not serious are you?" Carena looked completely shocked and beside her Breagg actually looked like he had emotions for once but Kei and Leia knew all too well about it and remained silent.

"I'm afraid so...Mom sometimes talks about it...he was so messed up. _They _did that to him, they played on his fears like it was nothing. Like he was just some powerful tool they could use to take over..."

"That's horrible..." Carena managed weakly.

"The Sith _are_ horrible" Leia said, her voice devoid of emotion as she picked at a loose string at the end of her sleeve.

"Still," Carena cleared her throat, "This really doesn't concern me...or any of you!"

"Are you deaf?" Kei cut in again, "I just told you every Jedi is a suspect in Ryake's eyes. This concerns all of us whether we like it or not. Every single member of the Jedi Order is being asked to give in a detailed alibi of what happened on that night! Including you!"

"But I have no reason to feel guilty. I'll write the alibi and nothing else will happen! For any of us! A true Jedi would never take an innocent life and I have no idea what kind of person would..." Carena stood anxiously.

"Well then Carena you're in the wrong line of business. It's part of our duty to be able to make judgments on who would commit crimes like this one," Leia sat up a little, "Did you think that over?"

There was a moment of silence as Leia held Carena's tearful gaze, then the other girl spoke; "I'm going to go find my Master." After that she left the balcony with Breagg silently following her out. Luke waited to hear the door hiss behind them before turning to his sister. "Well that went well..."

"She doesn't seem to like the idea of there being a 'grey' in her black-and-white world..." Leia sighed.

"Forget her," Kei said quickly, "I think the idea of us investigating this is a good one..."

"Without permission from the council?" Leia asked.

"Now you sound like Carena..." Kei said distastefully.

"If we do this we'll have to juggle our training and studying along-side it..." Luke noted thoughtfully, "And if Carena grasses us up to my Dad or Obi-Wan or anyone...there could be consequences..."

"But if we don't do it and we're right about this all, it could all be brought into the light only when its too late. Isn't it better to be sure?" Kei was making a good point and Luke had to agree. He nodded slowly and then turned to his sister, "You in?"

"Well I don't have much choice do I?"

Suddenly the door to the balcony slid open. Master Quilan Vos entered slowly, his arms folded across his chest, eyebrow cocked up with curiosity. "When I was last sent up here to check on you guys there were five...now there are only three. Where's the other two? Skipping out on a training exercise?"

"Erm..." Kei shifted uncomfortably. There was an odd silence for a while.

"Ferry Berry Ice Blasts?" Luke grinned sheepishly and Master Vos frowned at the sudden change of subject.

**xXxXxXx**

The Room of a Thousand Fountains was a calming place to be. Anakin closed his eyes and drew in a breath sharply and then slowly let it out. He needed to get away from everyone else. Everywhere he went around the Temple he could feel the other Jedi's uneasiness. He could feel their fear of him. The negativity that they felt when he walked into a room was to him like a pristine wave in the Force. Sometimes he hated being so close to it. He was its child, according to the common-going theory, and it seemed to always want to tell him everything. As a youngster he would shun the prophecy, he would aim for power and glory and take pleasure in space skirmishes where he was the star pilot and everyone was counting on him.

Then it all changed. His twins were born and along with their birth, his brush with the Dark Side of the Force was like a wake-up call to him like he had never known. It was frightening and comforting all at once; to be in touch with everything around him, life itself seemed closer than it had before and he could feel everything through the Force. Everything. However he could feel nothing with as much clarity as he felt his wife and children.

Anakin kept his eyes shut and reached out through the Force. He let his feelings search across its mystical being, across the vast city-scape of Coruscant to where she was. Padme. His angel. He felt her life force, it glowed, he could almost picture her: floating across a room, her garments flowing around her...her smile...her beautiful face. He then changed his course, drew himself back to his center before reaching out again. Luke...Leia. Something was troubling them...they were anxious, worried but strangely almost excited at the same time. Leia was more troubled then her twin. He could immediately sense the strain in the Force. The inner conflict was there in the two of them but more so in her.

He then slowly drew himself out of the Force, shutting off the doors he had opened, restablishing the mental shields that kept him out of the minds of all other sentient beings and therefore kept him sane. He opened his eyes, sensing a familiar presence, he glanced sideways.

"Most at home you seem, when deep in touch with the Force you are..." Yoda noted thoughtfully motioning towards Anakin with one of his small clawed hands. Anakin regarded the aged Grand Master thoughtfully, gave a soft smile and nodded.

"When controlled...being able to tap into the things I can is...soothing..." Anakin unfolded his legs from the meditative sitting position he was in and slowly stood.

Yoda watched the boy rise.

"Troubled are you?"

"No Master...merely...concerned..."

"Talked about the conditions of your family we have, Hm? Came to a conclusion we did."

"Yes Master, I remember..."

The small green Jedi Master hobbled across the room with his gimmer stick, slowly passing Anakin and the small pond with the trickling mini fountains at the center. Placing to clawed hands at the head of his stick, he sighed heavily and glanced over at Anakin. "Soon to become one with Force you are...sense it...I do..." He slowly turned away and sadly closed his eyes. Ears still poised for the reaction.

For a long moment, all that could be heard was the trickling of the nearby fountains and roar of the larger ones further away. The picture was serene: two powerful Jedi standing perfectly still in this grand room of lush beauty, sun rays spilling across an array of plants, making them glow with life. Yoda kept his eyes closed, comforted as he sensed Anakin's small smile.

"I know. I know that...your time is not far off either..."

Yoda opened his eyes and turned to face Anakin. He returned the smile. "Ready I am. Feel the same way, do you?"

"No," Anakin turned to face Yoda completely, "But you knew that. That's why you're here. That's how you knew how to find me..."

Yoda studied the tall human Jedi for a moment. Then he began to slowly hobble away, "Too young to embrace death, you feel? Ready for anything a Jedi must be..."

"It's not me I'm worried about. I just...I don't want to leave them. I don't want to put them through that same kind of pain..."

"Strong they are Anakin..."

"I hope so..."

Yoda stopped moving and then there was a short pause. "Sound like a youngling you do, young Skywalker..."

Anakin frowned and slowly began to follow the small Grand Master who was hobbling further into the Room of a Thousand Fountains. "Mast-"

"If nine hundred years of age you were to reach, think a child of persons your current age, you would, Hm?"

At this he had to smile. It was true. All the adults of the human race must have seemed like mere infants to the Grand Master, whose rare species was known for having an abnormally long lifespan. When he thought of how long Yoda had lived, all the things he must have seen, all the experiences he must have had, Anakin could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy in his gut. All his life he had striven to be powerful and live a life with no limits. He had dreamed of such freedoms as a slave and as a padawan had waited patiently for knighthood, naively believing that once he had shed his 'learner-Jedi' status, he would be free to do as he chose.

In truth he was destined to live a life half-caged. All because Jedi of ancient times predicted that he would be born and he would be the one to destroy the Sith and restore balance. He had at first shunned the Prophecy, he didn't like the idea of destiny and not being in control of his life, however it was an inescapable fate. Now through his unique bond with it, he learned that the Force itself yearned to take him back once he had fulfilled his purpose. He left the Room of a Thousand Fountains silently, not wishing to become upset in the presence of another, he felt his fears were best kept to himself.

Yoda watched him go with an unreadable expression.

Perhaps, he thought, in its own right, the Force could be cruel...but only in order to be kind to all else which fed and drew power from its center.

**xXxXxXx**

Over the course of the next few days, talk of Bruna Koon's shocking death circumstances seemed to lessen at the Temple and within the media. This did not improve Luke's mood.

"I seriously think everyone is taking this whole thing too easy. I've never seen the council so lackadaisical about a murder before!" he retorted as Obi-Wan placed the helmet with the training visor over his head. The Jedi Master sighed as he stepped back a few paces so that his back was close to the wall.

"Now really isn't the time Luke," he said, "Keep your thoughts here and now. Control your emotions..."

"That's gunna be a bit difficult..."

"Only if you keep thinking in that way."

"Hello, remember me? Son of emotional-marathon-man? It's not like I choose to be this whiny. I'm 13, remember?"

"Even so you should practice at least a little more self control over your feelings..."

"And not crave excitement or adventure?"

"Yes. Or Ferry Berry Ice Blasts..."

"Master!" Luke couldn't see Obi-Wan but somehow he could tell that his master was smiling to himself. Or more likely grinning at him. Luke gripped his lightsaber carefully as he heard the remote whizz into life not far off.

"Isn't this youngling training? Shouldn't I be doing something more...advanced?"

"I think you'll find this remote is faster and it will actually shoot you with blasts that will leave a remaining sting..."

"Excellent..."

"Your father said the exact same thing earlier today when he successfully programmed it to be more difficult," Obi-Wan noted thoughtfully somewhere in the room.

"Oh," Luke breathed casually, "That's nic-- Hey! Wait! Wha-OW!"


End file.
